Johannesburg - More than 28 years since the attainment of democracy, access to land with basic services enshrined in the Constitution still eludes many.
South Africans thought with the end of apartheid, black people would see their lives improve and get access to better services and even live in towns. Sadly, for many that has remained a pipe dream as residents of Protea South in the west of Johannesburg, Soweto, have come to realise.
Residents are having serious headaches regarding basic service delivery.
Heaps of rubbish lie all over the place on the main roads. Residents of the area are now facing eviction threats from the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, with no guarantee that they will be allocated housing.
According to the frustrated residents, in 2006, there was a resolution by the City of Joburg which confirmed that parts of the land in Protea South are dolomite and that the residents will be moved to Roodepoort Farm.
They also claim that in 2014 there was a court ruling that confirmed that the land in Protea South wasn’t at high risk of dolomite and that residents could continue to build and live on it.
The residents are concerned that pressure is looming for them to be evicted; yet there have been delays in building houses for them at the Roodepoort farm.
Furthermore, they claim that a R60 million budget was allocated for the Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme, which was meant to improve the lives of informal settlement dwellers, but this has still not happened. Residents still live in squalor and this is resulting in tensions rising, setting up a potentially violent clash between the less fortunate.
The simmering situation is threatening to explode with news that people would be moved to the Roodepoort Farm. Resident Serame Retha said the people had been failed by the leaders in the local government sphere.
“There are many issues faced by the residents here. Protea South has no sign that people were moved into RDPs, Masakhane Project houses or Lufhereng recently. We are always given the run-around and are given empty promises. Our leaders have failed us,” he said.
Adam Milanzi said those who grew up in Protea South, should be given first preference to settle on the Roodepoort Farm.
“This Roodepoort Farm stands for us who grew up in Protea South. We must benefit from that development. It is only fair,” said Milanzi.
Zandile Mathenjwa said “corrupt leaders destroyed our beautiful place that is Protea South”.
“It could have been far by now, but it has been destroyed as there is no community development for youth. It’s very sad and painful to see the streets ruined like this.”
Secretary-general of shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, Thapelo Mohapi, said the country came from a difficult time where black people were denied access in the cities due to the laws that under the apartheid regime.
“The approach of the current government is the same as that of the apartheid government where cities are only accessible to the rich and those who can afford them. People are unable to pay rent because of the unemployment rate and many have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Land reform in this country has failed dismally. Black people still have no land and no access to the cities and they occupy the land for survival so they can be close to amenities that aren’t available in the rural areas,” he said.
Mohapi added that they wanted the government to engage with the people occupying these pieces of land.
“We want our leaders to listen to people and we want people to be at the forefront of their development. We don’t want them to be passive recipients, because informal settlements are built strategically in places where there is economic boom.
“Yet, the government would build Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses 20km away from where they are situated. We want the government to upgrade the current existing informal settlements where services are provided,” said Mohapi.
The DA recently held a meeting with the residents in a bid to find a solution to the challenge. The party's Nicola Du Plessis said the community had been desperately asking and engaging with the City of Johannesburg to better improve their lives.
She also cautioned the government against moving people to worse situations than what they were already enduring.
“You cannot relocate people who’ve occupied space for a long time. If you forcefully remove or relocate them, then one needs to ensure that there are services on the other hand. It is unacceptable for the department to evict people without providing alternative accommodation as they have nowhere to go,” she said.
“While we acknowledge that dolomite is a life-threatening mineral and property risk, we suspect that this current government is using it as an excuse to gain access to the state coffers to enrich themselves.
“There is also a government building that will be constructed on the same land where people will be evicted, and we also demand to know who will benefit from this project,” Du Plessis added.
She said the DA wasn’t against protecting the residents from the risk of dolomite and other natural disasters. However, they were against the current government using service delivery issues as a cash cow.
Protea South has a section dubbed “overflow”. Many of the houses in the “overflow” section are brick-and-mortar houses.
The one house was built in 1988, showing that the contention with the land issue in the area has been ongoing for a long time. Some residents have been moved to Lufhereng and were promised houses there but that has still not happened. When they make queries, they are given empty promises.
Gauteng Department of Human Settlements spokesperson, Tahir Sema, said there were several properties that were invaded across the province and the department was in the process of getting illegal invaders removed.
“There are several Gauteng Department of Human Settlement properties across the province that are illegally invaded, including in the Lenasia and Protea South area.
“Despite this, the department has not threatened anyone in this regard, the illegal invaders are already aware that their activities are unlawful. The department is in the process of getting all illegal invaders removed from its invaded properties.
“This may include the invaders around the Lenasia and Protea South area. This exercise is to clear all the invaded properties to make way for much needed development.
“We call on those who were sold land to contact law enforcement or the department’s Anti-Fraud and Corruption Unit on: [email protected], or the National Anti-Corruption Hotline 0800 701 701, or the Gauteng Government’s Hotline on 0860 428 8364,” he said.